We are no longer recruiting particpants.
Qualifications...
· Provide direct, dedicated access to outdoor or semi-conditioned workspaces.
· Located in US Southeast (EPA climate zone D, shown left) - Major cities include Washington DC, Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Raleigh, New York City, Philadelphia, and Richmond. Located in large metropolitan areas (population over 100,000)
· Located in urban office building, min. 10 floors, min. 15,000 SF/floor
· Multi-tenant or single-tenant OK, but no more than 2 contiguous (interconnected) floors per tenant
· 50 or more full-time, on-site employees per floor.
· Age of building: Not specified, but no significant exterior renovation or tenant improvement within past two years.
· Tenant industry: Not specified.
· Office spaces should not share ventilation systems with cafeterias, storage rooms or mechanical rooms.
What it entails...
1. Initial Site Visit
The project will kick off with an initial site visit to confirm fit, determine metering locations, and discuss logistics. General information collected about each building:
Building age (years constructed and renovated), gross area (square footage), number of floors, (above and below grade), study area location within the building, heating, air-conditioning and ventilation (HVAC) system type, occupant activities, hours of operation per week, smoking policy, as well as wall and roof construction materials. The HVAC system will be characterized regarding by its maintenance strategy, design features, and the amount and quality of fresh air being introduced into the building.
2. Behind-the-Scenes Environmental Monitoring (one full year):
We will place one air quality meter within the study area to record PM2.5, PM10, TVOC, CO2, temperature (C), and relative humidity (%) using the Kaiterra SenseEdge Mini, with measurements recorded on 5-minute intervals. The sensor does not have a camera or record sound. Data will be compared against local climate data. Monitoring will occur completely 'behind the scenes' and will not cause any disruption to tenants. Live data will be available on a project dashboard. Sensor will require connection to a standard outlet and WiFi.
3. Behavior Mapping:
Outdoor spaces will be provided with a unique QR code that occupants can scan with their phones when they move to that location. The short survey will ask two multiple choice questions, "why did you move to this location?" and "what type of activity are you doing?" They survey will automatically collect the location and time of day. Participant identity or personal information will not be collected.
4. Behavior Analysis (Interviews & occupant satisfaction surveys):
Employees will be asked to take a 15-minute online Occupant Satisfaction Survey once per season, administered by the UC Berkeley Center for Built Environment. Additionally, select occupants will be invited to participate in a brief (15-20 minute) semi-structured interview to describe their own description of the environmental space. Interviews will be conducted once in the Fall and again in the Spring (2 times total). Demographic information will be collected for all occupants of the building; however, occupant interview results will be coded and no personal identifiers will be collected to maintain confidentiality. Individual Interviews and survey results will not be shared with employer.
Time Commitment: We will visit the site for 2 weeks per season (4x/year) during 2023/24 to calibrate the environmental monitoring and conduct behavior mapping. Occupant engagement will be limited to business hours though ambient monitoring will continue for the full work week.
